title: Leaf water dynamics of Arabidopsis thaliana monitored in-vivo using terahertz time-domain spectroscopy.
abstract: The declining water availability for agriculture is becoming problematic for many countries. Therefore the study of plants under water restriction is acquiring extraordinary importance. Botanists currently follow the dehydration of plants comparing the fresh and dry weight of excised organs, or measuring their osmotic or water potentials; these are destructive methods inappropriate for in-vivo determination of plants' hydration dynamics. Water is opaque in the terahertz band, while dehydrated biological tissues are partially transparent. We used terahertz spectroscopy to study the water dynamics of Arabidopsis thaliana by comparing the dehydration kinetics of leaves from plants under well-irrigated and water deficit conditions. We also present measurements of the effect of dark-light cycles and abscisic acid on its water dynamics. The measurements we present provide a new perspective on the water dynamics of plants under different external stimuli and confirm that terahertz can be an excellent non-contact probe of in-vivo tissue hydration.
authors.affiliation: Centro de Investigaciones en Optica A.C., Loma del Bosque 115, Lomas del Campestre, Leon, Guanajuato 37150, Mexico.
authors.forename: E
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Castro-Camus
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Palomar
authors.forename: A A
authors.initials: AA
authors.lastname: Covarrubias
mesh_terms: D000040:Abscisic Acid / Q000494:pharmacology; D017360:Arabidopsis / Q000187:drug effects / Q000502:physiology*; D002940:Circadian Rhythm; D003681:Dehydration; D009997:Osmotic Pressure; D010937:Plant Growth Regulators / Q000494:pharmacology; D018515:Plant Leaves / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000187:drug effects; D055068:Terahertz Spectroscopy / Q000379:methods*; D014867:Water / Q000737:chemistry*
chemical_list: D010937:Plant Growth Regulators; D014867:Water; D000040:Abscisic Acid